Adaps Photonics

Adaps Photonics (灵明光子) is a Chinese photonic chip company founded in May 2018 by CEO Kai Zang and three other PhD returnees from overseas universities, specializing in single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) technology for dToF (direct time-of-flight) depth sensors . The company has established itself as a domestic leader in SPAD device design and 3D stacking process capability—one of fewer than five companies globally to commercialize 3D-stacked dToF chips, with its ADS3003 sensor exceeding the resolution and ranging performance of Apple's Lidar Scanner chip as of 2021 .

Its product line spans SPADIS chips, dToF modules, silicon photomultipliers (SiPM), and limited-point dToF solutions, serving applications from smartphones and AR/VR devices to solid-state LiDAR and robotics . In 2022, Adaps partnered with Qualcomm and ArcSoft to integrate its Spot dToF chip into the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor for Android phones .

The company has raised multiple rounds including a tens-of-millions RMB B1 round led by Gaorong Ventures in 2021 with follow-on from OPPO, Kunzhong Capital, ZhenFund, and OFILM ; a hundreds-of-millions RMB Series C in 2022 led by Meituan Dragonball with continued support from Gaorong and Kunzhong ; and a C2 round in 2024 . Gaorong Ventures has been a particularly active backer, leading the B1 round and re-upping in subsequent financings .